2022 TUTORIAL REPORT

We are grateful to have had the opportunity this year, to organize our annual free PYP Tutorial Program where primary school pupils in public schools in Festac Town, Nigeria are prepared for their entrance exams into secondary school from January through July. Last year, despite efforts put in place, we could not hold the Tutorial Program as we were not given approval from SUBEB, the reason given was related to the presence of Covid-19 at that time, but not deterred, we still looked inward for other programs that we could engage some of our alumni in, we introduced the Guild Program where PYP alumni engaged in courses to build their computational competencies, and also continued our Students in Training (SiT) program. So far, it has all been going great. Towards the end of 2021, we began planning the Tutorial Program for the year 2022.

From the first week in January 2022, as a strategic way to gain approval to organize tutorials, we wrote a request letter to SUBEB and fortunately for us this time around, our request was granted. We immediately began preparations, these included visiting schools to distribute invitation letters to the students, securing a venue to hold the tutorial, and organizing volunteer tutors.

About the tutorial registration day

On Saturday, 26th of February, 2022, we welcomed pupils of the different public primary schools and their parents to our tutorial venue, which was at Anchorage Field Secondary School. See pictures below.

Prior to this day, letters of invitation had been distributed to the ten public Primary Schools in Festac Town, inviting them to our yearly free Tutorial Program. Along with this letter is the approval letter we got from SUBEB for PYP as well as the approval letters assigned to each of the selected schools. The invitation letter was also to inform the students of an orientation session for parents coming up at the start date of the tutorial. This year had the lowest turnout of students (58 students) compared to previous years. This was probably due to the long break between the COVID-19 period and now.

At exactly 9:30am, the Tutorial coordinator, Akanmu Damilola, began the orientation session wherein she informed parents about PYP, the program aims and objectives for their children among which was to help them prepare academically for their upcoming Common Entrance Examination. She went on further to inform them about the rules of engagement of the tutorial which included, punctuality, consistency, participation in class, parent’s support with homework and learning. She also advised all parents present to ensure that they pay close attention to the academics of their children, what they learn at school and from the tutorial.

Subsequently, registration began for both students and parents. This process involved the collection of data of each child and his/her parents/guardian’s (each child had been required to bring along a parent/guardian in order to register). Next was a reading test of all registered persons. This is an assessment necessary to determine the reading capability of each pupil so as to provide focused learning and match him/her to a class relevant to his/her level of reading and understanding ability.

All volunteers managed the entire process and we can report that it was swift and convenient for all parties involved. Overall, it was a success.

First week in Class

The following Saturday after registration, 5th of March, the students were divided into their various classes and lectures commenced immediately. We had three classes altogether based on reading capability which are: G1/2, G3/4, G5/6. For the first day, we splitted the classes into two and they kicked off with the first session at 9:00am with English language in one class and Mathematics in the other. By 10:30am, the students went on a 20 minutes break before the next session where the subjects were switched and started at 10:50am.

Class distribution table:

After the first week, tutorial continued for a period of 4 months and within this period, tutorial sessions went as scheduled on all the weekends except for Saturdays where we had Public Holiday and the day of their Examination which came up on the 23rd of July, 2022. Before they held the Examination, we carried out mock tests for the students, as well as a session where they were taught basic exam etiquette by Miss Benita Bulley, she explained to them about exam procedures that covered, proper way of shading, going to exam hall with the necessary writing materials, going to the exam hall early, and following every laid down rules. All these was done with the aim of giving them the idea of what their exam will look like, so as to be successful in their exam. This made them confident to look forward to the day of the exam.

END OF TUTORIAL

On the 30th of July 2022, the tutorial program came to an end. On this day, we had a review session on how their exam had gone, the difficulties experienced with regards to their questions of which their tutors were on ground to give more insight as to how they are to approach such questions should they come across it again. After this session, we took group pictures and every one departed to their various homes. For the PYP organizing team, it was time to prepare for our next program, whereby selected students who completely participated in the Tutorial program would be invited to a summer school.

Conclusion

It was an amazing time with the PYP kids that participated in this year’s Tutorial Program. We are grateful for the impact we were able to make in the lives of the students and we look forward to making more impact even as we plan towards having a successful program come 2023.

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